“Independence”

July 4, 2010

First Presbyterian Church, South Lyon

The Rev. Annemarie S. Kidder

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Every seven years, the Fourth of July falls on a Sunday.  This means that today we will need to link the political and the theological, the state and the church, human government and the government or rule of God.  The proper name of today offers such a bridge, Independence Day.  To say this word “independence” offers a sense of satisfaction.  The “in” makes a little groan of approval and the other syllables roll of the tongue like a ripple of delight.  Approval and delight are appropriate emotions for the celebration of the birthday of this country.  On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted, celebrating freedom from British rule.  Patriotic singing and picnics, parades and raised flags all gear up for the late-night icing on the birthday cake, the fireworks, which tonight will explode in technicolor against a pitch black canvas of night sky. 

A country is born and a people are freed, a foreign power is shed and democracy implemented:  Can there ever be enough celebration?  Since then many other countries have been birthed and have had similar reasons to rejoice.  I am thinking of the peoples of the former Soviet Union.  Others, such as some in South America and Africa, are still struggling and suffering from the yoke of a military dictatorship or are, as in the Middle East and Asia, under the rule of religious extremists.  Independence, what a sweet word this would be rolling off their lips, what parades and dances it would spark!  

And yet, a friend reminded me the other day that while we may be freed of British rule, we are not free of British Petroleum, the oil spill in the Golf of Mexico, the devastation of natural habitat and the economic consequences for years, maybe decades to come.  The growing globalization of industry via technology seems to have replaced the cultural ideal of independence with the awareness that we are all connected and interdependent at best.  Inadvertently we are affected by what someone does thousands of miles away.  Toxic emissions and greenhouse gases affect animals and plant life as far away as the North and South Poles.  Scientists tell us we are seeing the greatest mass extinction of species since the era of the dinosaurs.  But as certain plant species enhance clean water and air and offer unique medical remedies, we humans are experiencing the downside of their disappearance.  We are all participants in a dynamic ecosphere:  all suffer when some participants are lost.     

What is true for the ecosphere is also true for the spiritual life.  We are dependent.  And the nature of this dependence is born out by our story today.  The throng of disciples has swelled to considerable size.  And once again Jesus sends out messengers ahead of him to “every city and place where he himself was going to come.”  But this time, they are not to look for a motel room but to deliver a message.  “The kingdom of God has drawn near you,” they are to say.  “It is here!”   

Christian discipleship means dependence.  A disciple is someone who has been sent.  He doesn’t operate apart from the master.  She doesn’t move and walk and talk of her own accord.  Rather, Jesus puts words in the disciples’ mouth.  Is our mission, our visitation, our outreach to the community the result of an idea in our heads or what Jesus has put in our mouth?  Do we run a vacation Bible school or sponsor children to go to a Christian summer camp because it’s what churches do, or is this a way for us to carry Jesus’ words into the place where he himself is going to come?  We might examine every one of our church programs from this angle.  Are we messengers or independent agents?  Are we Jesus’ agents or our own?  Another way of putting it:  do our words and deeds, our dreams and hopes serve the greater glory of God?  Do they loosen the soil in people’s hearts so when the seeds fall, when Jesus gets there, they’ll sprout. 

Christian discipleship means dependence.  And it’s not for loners and independent operators.  Jesus groups the disciples in pairs, two and two.  Our distant cousins, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, always come knocking and witnessing in twos.  They rely on this Bible passage, as do we.  Each week here, a deacon and I go out on pastoral visits.  We go in twos, which is to say that we are not acting of our own accord, that we are united in mission, dependent on each other as much as on the Lord.  For good reason, Jesus says that wherever two or more are gathered in his name, there he will be in their midst.  Wherever at least two of his disciples are in agreement of seeking God’s will and carrying out his message, there he will bring about his kingdom and his righteousness. 

Finally, discipleship means to depend on the Lord for the results, not on ourselves.  In our story, the disciples return from their mission with great excitement.  “Even the demons are subject to us,” they say not without some triumph.  But Jesus tells them that this is something to be expected.  The disciples had been given authority to confront and bring down Satan’s power.  Evil spirits are brought low, disordered affections pushed back to the middle.  If we are plugged into the source, these things will happen.  Expect them to happen, Jesus says.  Expect your prayers to be answered, whether they are made on behalf of an unbelieving spouse or a child that’s strayed from the path.  Every contact we have with them, every moment to be with them in person is an opportunity to remember that we are God’s messengers.  We don’t act on our own accord but have been sent for healing and wholeness.  You and I have this chance of sharing with and showing others that the power of God’s kingdom is real, that it is here.  Why not say a prayer out loud to show that Christ is real.  Why not demonstrate the power in action!  Doing so is not just the privilege of the first disciples; it is our privilege today.  Jesus has given us a mouth to use, feet to carry us to those beleaguered by oppressive forces, and hands to lift up and fold in prayer.  Go, pray, proclaim with expectation and hope.  We do not receive because we do not expect.  Independent and disconnected from the source, we are powerless.  Dependent and connected, the stranglehold must give.